Help me fix this wire! *solved!*

[InCreator]

Laptop charger.
Inner wire intact and isolated.
No soldering kit.
No money for new charger.
1,5 hours battery life left.

How to fix this elegantly - I mean, so it wouldn't break next day?

[mode7]

I've no clue about electrics...but anyway

Tinfoil and ducttape?

[Tuomas]

Who chewed through it

You'll probably die trying, but how about rolling some wire over it on a spiral like this:


I broke mine too, but bought a all-around charger/psu for 19,95â,¬

[GarageGothic]

Tinfoil and ducttape?

Actually that would probably work, though I'm not sure tinfoil is conductive enough not to create heat that could potentially burn the tape. I'd say buy a new charger, short-circuiting your power supply while it's plugged to the laptop just isn't worth it.

No money for new charger.

Borrow it from someone, it's only 20-30 euro.

[Ryan Timothy B]

To me it looks like the cable was stretched. If the cable was stretched and it broke the plastic and outer wires (negative?), the inner wire would more than likely be severed too.

It looks to be toast.

[InCreator]

Nope, I fixed it!
I had same idea as Tuomas, though he pushed me to try it: I rolled a load of copper wire (taken from random audio wire) around whole stuff, creating a bridge which seconded as holding whole stuff tight. Added a load of duct tape and it worked!

This looks like a solution of a sailor rather than electrician, but if it works, all's fine.
Going to buy new charger in few days anyway.

[GarageGothic]

Good to hear. Be careful to feel once in a while that it doesn't get warm around the repaired spot.

[Tuomas]

Yay, I feel like a handyman

[Wyz]

Well done, MacGyver!

[Barricus]

The best thing to do is to get some sugru to cover it up with.  It's an insulator and pretty cheap, too.

[Ryan Timothy B]

I'll admit that I'm impressed. After seeing the amount of separation on those outer wires, I'd have bet the farm on the center one being damaged as well.

Was it chewed/torn? Or just stretched because you dropped the laptop or pulled the cable?

[InCreator]

I'm not sure really, since it's my GF's laptop. What I do know is for some time, charger only worked if you bent wire correct way. So she was fiddling and cursing with it every time so it would charge. Even used rubber band to keep wire in connected position. Probably repeated bending is what finished this cable totally.

Of course, it was all happening inside insulation. Insulation and rubber piece from connector, those I removed myself to detect the problem.

Inner one was still intact, that much i know -- bridging worked!. Inner one is hard to break also, it has quite strong plastic insulation tube around it.

[Barricus]

In laptop chargers the positive wire is inserted into the negative, for grounding purposes.  This makes the negative very brittle, being only a few strands thick.  It's an engineering problem, but it's sleeker looking than two wires side by side, and it allows the company to profit from replacement chargers, since they're not part of most limited warranties.